1. BEST PRACTICES
FOR HOSPITALS ON
FACEBOOK
AHA MEDIA GROUP
MARCH 17, 2014
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2. GOALS OF THIS REPORT
1. Use current U.S. News & World Report
Honor Roll rankings
2. Examine how those hospitals use
Facebook to share content and affect
their reputations
3. Glean any best practices other hospitals
and health systems can use
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3. METHODOLOGY
We created this report by:
1. Using the Best Hospitals Honor Roll from U.S. News &
World Report (July 16, 2013)
2. Examining vital facts and figures
3. Uncovering best practices from the data
4. Providing examples so you can implement these
tactics at your hospital or health system
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4. BEST HOSPITALS 2013-2014
This ranking is according to the honor roll
provided by the U.S. News and World
Report (July 16, 2013)
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5. 5
Rank Hospital Location
1 Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore Baltimore, MD
2 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Boston, MA
3 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Rochester, MN
4 Cleveland Clinic Cleveland , OH
5 UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
6 Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago Chicago, IL
7 New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell New York, NY
7 UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco San Francisco, CA
9 Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Boston, MA
10 UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pittsburgh, PA
11 Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
12 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. Durham, NC
13 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
14 NYU Langone Medical Center, New York New York, NY
15 Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis St. Louis, MO
16 IU Health Academic Health Center, Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN
17 Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
18 University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland Cleveland , OH

6. WHO HAD THE MOST FACEBOOK FANS
IN 2013?*
*As of 2/6/2014
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7. Rank Hospital Facebook Page Facebook Fans
1 Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore https://www.facebook.com/Johns.Hopkins.Medicine 132,911
2 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston https://www.facebook.com/massgeneral 17,371
3 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. https://www.facebook.com/MayoClinic 495,885
4 Cleveland Clinic https://www.facebook.com/ClevelandClinic 810,793
5 UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles https://www.facebook.com/uclahealth 6,845
6 Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago https://www.facebook.com/NorthwesternMemorialHospital 8,590
7 New York Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, N.Y. https://www.facebook.com/newyorkpresbyterian 39,984
7 UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco https://www.facebook.com/UCSFMedicalCenter 12,836
9 Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston https://www.facebook.com/BrighamandWomensHospital 17,946
10 UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center https://www.facebook.com/upmc 14,287
11 Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania https://www.facebook.com/pennmed 6,717
12 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. https://www.facebook.com/dukemedicine 6,832
13 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles https://www.facebook.com/CedarsSinai 10,903
14 NYU Langone Medical Center, New York https://www.facebook.com/NYULangone 4,454
15 Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis https://www.facebook.com/barnesjewishhospital 54,179
16 IU Health Academic Health Center, Indianapolis https://www.facebook.com/IUHealth 5,628
17 Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia https://www.facebook.com/jeffersonhospital 7,483
18 University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland https://www.facebook.com/UniversityHospitals 11,349
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8. IS IT BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BIGGEST?
No. With 1,267 beds, (the average hospital had 1,043) and
810,793 Facebook fans, (the average hospital had 92,500)
Cleveland Clinic surpasses all the top hospitals by more than
300,000 Facebook fans.
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Rank Hospital Number of Beds* Facebook Fans
4 Cleveland Clinic 1,267 810,793
3 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 1,132 495,885
1 Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore 912 132,911
15 Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis 1,305 54,179
7 New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, N.Y. 2,264 39,984
9 Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston 779 17,946
*The information was provided by the American Hospital Association. Find out more about AHA data products at
www.ahadata.com. Data last updated July 2013 (taken from U.S. News & World Report)

9. IS IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN ON
FACEBOOK THE LONGEST?
No. Cleveland Clinic only joined Facebook in March 2009,
putting them almost two years behind other hospitals.
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Hospital Fans as of 2/6/2014 Joined Facebook
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 495,885 12/4/2007
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia 7,483 8/28/2008
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 17,371 11/12/2008
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore 132,911 11/26/2008
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston 17,946 1/5/2009
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. 6,832 2/2/2009
UCLA Medical Center, Los Ángeles 6,845 3/11/2009
Cleveland Clinic 810,793 3/16/2009
University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland 11,349 3/31/2009
UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco 12,836 4/15/2009
NYU Langone Medical Center, New York 4,454 6/16/2009
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 6,717 7/6/2009
Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis 54,179 7/9/2009
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago 8,590 1/8/2010
UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center 14,287 1/13/2010
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles 10,903 5/7/2010
New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, N.Y. 39,984 7/14/2010
IU Health Academic Health Center, Indianapolis 5,628 12/1/2010

10. SUCCESS ON FACEBOOK
Success on Facebook isn’t correlated to the
number of beds you have, or how long you’ve
been using the social media and content
platform.
Facebook success comes from a combination of
factors, including your team, your creativity and
your willingness to explore the medium and
experiment.
At Aha Media, we found 5 best practices for
hospitals on Facebook, which you’ll find in the
next slides.
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11. SO WHAT ARE
HOSPITALS
DOING RIGHT?
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12. 5BEST PRACTICES FOR HOSPITALS
ON FACEBOOK:
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13. TIP # 1:
Don’t just promote yourself, share content.
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14. MORE ABOUT TIP # 1:
Don’t just promote yourself, share content.
Post tips and advice that people are
interested in such as:
• Recipes
• Wellness tips
• Prevention information
Not only will people like those posts, but
they will comment and share.
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15. TIP # 2:
Use pictures for impact and interest
This picture posted by Johns Hopkins Hospital wishing people
a Happy Halloween received 2,665 likes!
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16. MORE ABOUT TIP # 2:
Use pictures for impact and interest
Everyone loves pictures!
• Put pictures and videos in many of your posts, particularly
if you want to be seen on Facebook Paper.
• Consider creating a narrative out of pictures and posting
them on sequential days of the week. You’ll tell a better
story that way, and you’ll keep people engaged.
• Babies and “cute” pictures get a lot of attention.
• Remember that hospitals are scary places. Look for
pictures that communicate joy and hope.
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17. MORE PICTURES THAT WORK
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18. TIP # 3:
Foster community pride
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19. MORE ABOUT TIP #3:
Foster Community Pride
Post about:
• Sports teams
• Local events
• Things for families to do
• Fundraisers and health fairs
There is nothing like a sports fan and that is always bound to
draw attention and get you some likes!
Families are always looking for weekend and healthy
activities. If your Facebook page becomes an “event
resource” for your community, you’ll encourage even more
likes and engagement.
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20. MORE EXAMPLES OF
COMMUNITY PRIDE
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21. TIP # 4:
Write relevant headlines for your audience
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22. MORE ABOUT TIP # 4:
Write headlines relevant for your audience
What’s great about these headlines is that they aren’t coy.
They are straightforward and make me want to click.
• “90% of Americans do not consume enough of THIS each
day. Do you?” (The answer is fiber.) (Cleveland Clinic)
• "I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to
sleep. What can I do?" Here are 9 strategies to relieve
insomnia:” (Mayo Clinic)
• “It's the winter that won't quit... Have you had enough of the
cold, gray weather? Boost your mood with these tips:”
(University Hospitals)
• “Duke doc says serious games and virtual environments are
the future of education. Do you agree?” (Duke Medicine)
• “To stay hydrated and healthy, you need to drink eight 8-
ounce glasses of water a day. Fact or Fiction?” (UPMC)
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23. TIP # 5:
Don’t fade in and out or become a ghost
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24. MORE ABOUT TIP # 5:
Don’t fade in and out or become a ghost
• Post regularly. At least every other day.
• Don’t let people have time to forget about you.
• Think of yourself as a good friend. Wouldn’t a good friend
check in and communicate?
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25. AND IT’S OK TO BRAG A LITTLE…
(SOMETIMES PEOPLE LIKE IT!)
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26. TO LEARN MORE:
• Read our blog posts on:
• How to Use Facebook for your Hospital
• Facebook Advertising: Is it Right for your Organization?
• Read our Content Aha’s newsletter on:
• Facebook Engagement
• Facebook Paper
• Read our healthcare marketing thought leadership:
• Content Strategy for Healthcare
• Social Media for Hospitals [PDF]
• 6 Secrets of Social Media Superstars in Healthcare
Interested in learning more about the hospital and healthcare
marketing services that Aha Media Group provides? Contact
us today.
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